Temp Worker Takes on Former Employer in Proposed Class Action

Los Angeles, CA A woman in California employed by a state-based temp agency has filed what she hopes will become a class action California labor lawsuit against her former employer over allegations of improper payment records.

Allegations of inaccurate wage statements made by plaintiff Tamara L. Bengel could affect upwards of 1,000 potential class members, according to her California labor code action filed earlier this month in California Superior Court.

The defendant, Career Strategies Temporary Inc. (CST), is based in Burbank but maintains satellite offices in seven states, including California. CST provides direct-hire and temporary staffing services to businesses and corporations.

Bengel alleges in her California labor lawsuit that she was paid weekly by CST for work she was assigned as a temporary worker. The issue she has with her wage statements is that her weekly pay stubs did not specify inclusive pay period dates, in violation of the California labor code.

The lack of inclusive pay period dates makes it impossible for employees going forward to accurately track pay stubs against calendar dates when work was performed.

Bengel, it has been reported, has taken two pathways to justice with her allegations. The first is a reporting of her allegations to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, which Bengel is described as undertaking about six weeks before filing her California and labor law action.

The plaintiff also seeks to represent at least 1,000 other workers employed by CST in the state of California from a period beginning November 1, 2013 to the present day. She seeks civil penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) of California. Bengel’s suit seeks statutory penalties and attorneys’ fees and costs. If an employer knowingly and intentionally fails to accurately itemize a wage statement, an employee can recover the greater of actual damages or statutory fines of $50 for the first violation and $100 for each subsequent violation up to $4,000, according to the suit.

“Plaintiff and each class member suffered and suffer injuries as a result of the missing pay period because a reasonable person could not promptly and easily determine the pay period from the wage statement alone without reference to other documents or information,” the complaint says.

In her California labor employment law proposed class action, Bengel also suggests that her complaint could be amended to include other defendants, provided there is sufficient cause to believe that other parties may have been participating with CST in violating California labor law.

The case is Bengel v. Career Strategies Temporary Inc., case number BC565227, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.